Spellbound
by Limes And Kiwis
Summary: One of the things you learn once you've been put into a videogame, is that there aren't any restarts. No savepoints, no tutorials once a normal videogame has been turned into a real live version of itself. Once you've been ported into a game with no way out, it stops being fun really, really quickly. FEA, OFC, SPOILERS
1. Chapter 1 The Awakening

Spellbound: Chapter 1 "The Awakening"

One of the things you learn once you've been put into a videogame is that there aren't any restarts. No savepoints, no tutorials once a normal videogame has been turned into a real live version of itself. Once you've been ported into a game with no way ou it stops being fun really, really , OFC, Spoilers

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><p>There's that feeling you get when you stand up too quickly and all the blood drains out of your head and you see bright lights that aren't really there, but your brain makes up anyways because its been starved of oxygen. Like tiny little fireflies only you can see. Thats what im feeling right now, except those fireflies are buzzing around me like bees and i can't seem to get the blood back in my head. So i stumble and my foot hits something hard, like dead weight.<p>

And the fireflies clear and I'm standing in front of a body.

And its _his_ body, but it can't be can it? because magic isnt real and neither are video games coming to life and that bolt of solid lightning isn't sticking out of his back like its been jammed straight through like a knife.

it can't be real.

It cant.

But it is.

And I turn around when I hear deep, evil laughter behind me, and its the actual, living breathing Validar standing above me. Bloody and bruised but alive, unlike the very much dead Prince of Ylisse on the floor, Falchion lying a few feet away from him.

Which means they lost, that Robin gave in and that Validar won. Grima won. And however I got here, however this all happened, I'm going to die. I'm going to die very, very soon. At the hands of Validar or by Grima or maybe even Robin, who knows how much hes givin in yet but enough to kill chrom dead and let validar live.

And then I see him behind validar, eyes deep red, almost on fire. And its like He doesn't even see me as a person at all, he just glides past Validar, reveling in his victory, laughing, to stand in front of me. The heart of Grima. The heart of a God.

And I take a step back.

(like a scared little girl)

And Robin takes a step forward.

And I take another step,

(because who really wants to be murdered at 16?)

My foot hits Chrom's head again but this time it also finds slick blood, and I fall right onto him (onto _his corpse_).

Which is stupid stupid stupid because now Robin is standing over me with his arm raised, another bolt of lightening ready to find its mark.

And I look up into his eyes and I see nothing.

No shred of humanity in him left.

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><p>And of course its all a stupid <em>dream<em> that I wake up from.

Of course its not just a dream, its a vision of the future.

But it wouldn't even be an issue if I weren't still in the stupid game.

Because theres Chrom, Lissa and Frederick down the road ahead of me.

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><p>AN: Yay! first chapter is out and i actually like it! this has been a story rolling around in the back of my head for a looong while now so im hppy to finally write a first chapter that i really really love. Sorry for any typos and for my writing style but im really just trying to get the story flowing like if someone was really telling it so soRRY if you're pulling out your hair at my use of 4 and's in a row! Ill try to update soon if enough people like it and review :D


	2. Chapter 2 The Beginning Of It All

**Spellbound: Chapter 2 "The Beginning of it all"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or storyline of Fire Emblem Awakening, just my characters and side plots **

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><p>The three of them are all on horses when they approach me and thats when I realize that I'm standing in the middle of the road in my underwear.<p>

And theres an actual prince and princess staring at me and in in my boxers and T-shirt and _oh my god_ I'm in a _videogame _and in my _underwear_ _and_ _theres the prince getting off his horse to greet me_.

If I wasn't having a heart attack, I'd be noting that Chrom's shorter than I thought he'd be, so I picture myself measuring up to him and it makes me feel a bit better for a second before another wall of panic falls over me because that makes him more _real_. That makes him more alive (when I just saw him dead in a vision) and more human when he really shouldn't be here and neither should I.

But now I'm in a video game somehow and now the prince is smiling and introducing himself. "I'm Chrom of Ylisse, and this is my sister Lissa," he gestures to the party behind him "and that's Frederick." But I already know who they are because I've lived their lives a hundred times already and played their game far too much and now here _I am_. In their world. and this is all too real and I think I need to lie down, or puke, or both.

I make no sudden movements. Or any at all. For a second I just stare at him. Then at Lissa. Then at Frederick. Then back at Chrom. Because its still not really hitting me that I'm inside a videogame. Because thats crazy right? Crazy people believe they're in video games. Crazy people believe in knights in shining armor and swords and princesses and oh my god just _say something to him_.

"I–I...I….." My voice cracks, my throat tightens up and thats it really, I'm ready to just give up talking. How could this be real? How could _any of this be real_?

He doesn't even look like he's noticed my inability for words and I see his eyes flick up and down, to glance at my feet for a second time, which is when I look down too and see that I'm not wearing any shoes.

"Is everything alright? Is there…. some reason you're alone in the woods, hours from any town with-" he pauses to look back down again, "...no shoes on?"

_**Say something, you idiot.**_

"I- um, y- es," I try to swallow but my mouth is dry and I have to cough to clear my throat. "Yeees thereee is?"

_**Say something smart, you idiot!**_

Chrom just raises and eyebrow and I can just _feel_ Frederick 'the wary' becoming suspicious of me. I could be some sort of attempt on the Ylisse bloodline, with me being the distraction for some sort of outrageous assassination attempt. And that _voice _that's there, speaking over my own thoughts and bullying its way to to the center of my attention. A voice that isn't my own, but isn't one I'd ever heard before.

_**You're actually hopeless, aren't you?**_

And thats when my mouth starts talking for me.

"I was traveling on horseback when I was jumped by three men," (which is a total lie since I literally just woke up standing on this road about ten minutes ago) "They took my horse, my tomes, the clothes off my back-"

"Tomes? You're a mage?" Frederick interjects.

"In training, yes." (Which is another lie, but it's not like I can control what I'm saying. Impulse lying was not a thing I knew I did, but in all honesty, neither was appearing in video games or having voices inside my head, but today is a new day.)

"It must have been terrifying…" Lissa muttered. "Being robbed of everything… are you okay?" Which I awkwardly nodded to.

Chrom turns to me from looking at his companions, "Yes, it must've. Do you know which way they went?"

The genuine concern coming from him and Lissa is so nice and heartwarming but the lies just keep coming, "They made off towards Southtown," without even meaning to, my arm moved on its own to point down the road behind me, "I was traveling there already but it's a much longer walk there than I thought…"

"Southtown, you say?" Chrom looks from his sister to Frederick, the latter giving him a sour look. "We were just heading there, weren't we, Frederick?"

"My lord-" Frederick tries to argue with him, but Chrom beats him to it.

"–We could see you to Southtown, find the men who stole your things," he says, smiling to me. "It is part of our job, Frederick." He looks back at Frederick up on his horse, and raises his eyebrows, which Frederick huffs at. Assassination attempt very un-thwarted, and continuing along, thanks to their royal majesties.

"Thank you– for doing this," I say, getting proper control of my voice again.

Chrom turns to get back on his horse, "Its no problem, er–" he pauses.

"–Callie." My name being the first real thing I said to them that wasn't a lie.

"Right," he says, swinging himself back up on his horse. "Well, let's get going to Southtown so we can get your things back, Callie."

"Ugh– yeah.." I mutter, and thats when I start dreading the next round of lies when we actually get there.

The road the four of us traveled on horseback was rugged, with thick brush on both sides that, on more than one occasion, hit me in the face or arm.

"Ow!" I was riding with Lissa, and since she doesn't need to duck, she also doesn't give any warning for branches above her.

"Sorry, sorry!"

What was this, the fourth time I got hit in the face? At least Lissa could heal me after all of this was over. Still hurts though.

Chrom was up ahead leading us, with Frederick at the rear on his massive Clydesdale horse, probably watching me get hit in the face, thanks to Lissa and her being more than half a foot shorter than me.

"So where did you say you were from, Miss–"

"–Callie," I say, turning my stinging face to the knight behind me. After questioning me himself about how I got to where I was, we had rode in silence until he came up with more questions. "And I never said anything about where I was from."

"Interesting though, you have the most peculiar accent-" I shifted uncomfortably on Lissa's horse- "I don't quite know where to place it."

Panicking. Very much panicking. Where do you say you're from when the known world is a video game? How do you explain your accent if the country doesn't even exist to everyone else? Now would be a very good time to have some magic lie fly out of my mouth. Nothing?

At least Lissa's here to save my skin.

"Frederick, relax, I'm sure Callie's tired of your interrogating. We're almost to Southtown, why make the rest of our ride a stressful one?"

Crap.

How close was I to the town? Where was I dropped off? An hour from it? Sooner than I'd like, thats for sure. What sort of lies would I have to come up with when we get there _and oh_–

There isn't going to _be_ a town when we get there.

Southtown is taken over by the time the main characters get there– which means the same for me right? I'm going to be put in the middle of a battlefield surrounded by the burning remains of a _village_. People die– people are murdered in there. How am I supposed to handle that? How am I supposed to survive here– in this game when I know _everything_ that's going to happen?

I need to stop– _I need to get off this horse_. I need to go throw up, or sit down, or _something _to keep me from getting to Southtown and seeing what's waiting there. "Lissa, can you stop– let me off _please_." I tug at the sleeve of her dress to get her attention.

"Wha– why? Is everything alright?" Thank god she slows down enough so I can slide off before she can turn around and see my face.

Frederick has to slow down too, and I can hear him shout to Chrom up ahead to wait a second because I'm walking through the brush the wrong way now and– I want to go home so badly now and sleep in my bed and not have to think about Plegians killing and thieving and how I'm going to be there with them in the middle of a _massacre of blood and bodies and fire_– _and I'm actually going to be sick now_.

I take a couple steps off the road into the brush and then I'm gagging on air and spit and sobs stuck in my throat and I'm choking on it all– What's going to happen at Southtown, what's going to happen after it, the war and the bloodshed and my homesickness and fear and worry and confusion as to why I'm here and what happened to me. Then there's Chrom beating his way through the brush after me somehow, and he's asking me if I'm okay and when I say I'm not, he's staying with me until I am.

I wipe at my mouth with the hem of my sleeve, "T– thanks. I think I'm gonna be okay now. I think."

"Alright," he nodded and shuffled his feet a few feet, keeping his distance but he's still close enough to be nice, "Do you know what caused that? Are you going to be good later down the line when we get to town?"

"_Town_–" I paled, "–errr, yeah, I'll be fine. It was nothing."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Err– shock, probably." I ran my fingers through my knotted hair awkwardly, "Probably from earlier. It um, didn't hit me until now, I guess."

"Oh– " now it was his turn to be awkward, "I'm… sorry."

"No– it's okay. Really–" I turned to the road again, "Let's head back to the others." I pause, "Thank you though. Again."

"Don't mention it, you looked like you needed someone there," he replied behind me. _Was I that bad?_ And wow, that's also really nice and sweet of him and I might cry again. Thankfully he can't see my face.

Batting away the brush again, Lissa and Frederick are both off of their horses waiting for us. They both ask the same questions as Chom and I tell them the same lie I told him– though it's more of a half truth. But it's still a lie, and one that I told them myself– _instead of someone speaking for me,_ or whatever happened back on the road. Mark that as the magic-y thing that happened to me today. The second being that vision of the future– or dream. The first being, well, the whole reason why I'm here and in a game.

Frederick hands the reigns back to Chrom and I swing back up onto Lissa's horse with her help, and we continue on the road like before, except nobody really says anything. Lissa warns me of a few branches this time and I sit and stew with my thoughts. I barely register Chrom warning us up ahead of the road getting more treacherous, though I feel Lissa's horse struggle more on rocks and loose dirt.

The low branches and brush clear out and I finally don't have to worry about getting slapped in the face anymore. The road turns into more of a trail that winds uphill and I have to hold onto Lissa's waist to keep myself from sliding off. When things even out up ahead we have to cross a more precarious part that the horses are too nervous to carry us over, so we all have to get off and lead the poor horses through. The whole time everyone tries to make idle talk, but I keep to myself and walk ahead of everyone since I really dont want to be behind a nervous horse with nowhere to go.

I cant stop thinking about what could happen to me here, and how I could get hurt, _really hurt_. Maybe even die. And just every time that thought pops up in my head I feel a little weaker than before, a little more alone, a lot more homesick. I keep walking though, farther away from everybody else, and still in my bare feet, but I don't really mind it all that much because its more muddy than rocky now and I'm so stuck in my thoughts I don't even see the part of the road that's started to cave in and then I'm falling down the road _too far ahead of the others to be caugh_t–

–_and I'm rolling down the hill_ _in the_ _muck_ and in my short sleeved shirt and boxers and then I'm tearing through the bushes only to really stop once the hill ends at a little clearing and I'm in the wet grass, with dirt and grime all over my face and arms and _everywhere_.

I can hear shouting back where I was, but I can't see where it's coming from because it's just all treeline around me, and I can't see straight from all that rolling and _did I really fall from that far?_ _What if I hit one of those trees– what if that was just it_?

But once again, my thoughts are cut short _because I'm not alone in this clearing_.

Because right across from me, muddy and just as dirty as I am, is a _body_.

And its _Robin_.

But he isn't moving at all.

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><p><strong>AN: Yay the second chapter is up! it was like pulling teeth, but here it is!**

**don't forget to review if you wanna see more~ **


	3. Chapter 3 The Verge Of History

**Spellbound: Chapter 3 "The Verge Of History"**

A/N: Callie in chapter 2 was pretty wimpy, and shes pretty wimpy for a while, buuut thats what character development is for! This chapter is really heavy on dialogue from the game. (I really wish i could skip it, and I will skip some script later in the story, but its the beginning and kinda important for establishing characters so soRRY.) To make up for it, this chapter is extra long so i can get past all the dialogue and have some actual self-written story.

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><p>"Look, I told you– I slipped, I fell, I landed here– and there he was!" I pulled another stick out of my poor hair, but my eyes were fixed on the figure on the ground in front of me. "Is he going to be alright? <em>He isn't moving<em>–"

"–_He's breathing_, and I don't see any major injuries, so yes, probably." _Whew_, I didn't know I was holding my breath until Lissa said that.

"But he isn't waking up..." I mutter, edging closer to her and the guy I landed next to, to get a better look at him. "...Is he…?"

"Ugh– no," she said nervously, holding her staff. "I healed him, he _should_ be awake by now."

"I doubt kicking him much helped."

The two of us look up to Frederick, who was inspecting the muddy footprint across poor Robin's face. Lissa looks at me with a bewildered expression, and I fidgeted with the stick in my hands.

"I–I got scared." Lissa laughed a little bit, Frederick rolled his eyes and went to help Chrom with the horses. "He was right there, and I thought he was _dead_."

"_So you kick his body_?"

"_Please_ Lissa, you're telling me you wouldn't flip out if you landed right next to a _corpse?_" She shook her hair and her blonde ponytails swished about. They really are as spiky as they are in the game. I wonder what my hair looks like? A tumbleweed, probably. A big mass of brown hair with sticks and mud caked everywhere. I probably shouldn't think about what I look like.

Chrom finished tying up the horses and calming them down with the help of Frederick– after I fell, they apparently found a trail leading straight to me. It took some maneuvering, but they got the horses over a ditch and through the overgrown bushes with no problem and in time to find me covered in mud and as far away from Robin as I could get.

"How are we doing over here?" Chrom asked, followed by his deputy. Lissa struggled to get up in her iron skirt, and as funny as it would be to see her go on, I give her a push. I do sit back down in the muck again, mostly because the fall down the hill (it really felt more like a cliff, going down it) messed up something in my leg and I'm just beyond caring about getting my boxers dirtier right now. As much as I used to love wearing boxers as a girl, they really aren't that comfortable once you get covered in muck and fall through sticks and bushes.

"He doesn't seem to want to wake up," I say, poking at Robin's filthy hair with the stick I fished out of my own. He looks like the default, teenaged Avatar, save for his hair colour, dyed dark with the mud on the ground. His face is a little longer than his picture in the game, but then again, everyone looks different than their anime-style portraits. He looks _real_. _He looks my age even, 16, 17 maybe_? Man, this is so weird.

"Chrom– we have to do _something_." _Whoop, there it is_. The Cutscene dialogue starting up. How many times have I played this game and read the dialogue? Far too many times, but it's much cooler experiencing it in person than I thought.

"What do you propose we do?"

Part of me wants to say something stupid and insert myself into the dialogue, but I bite my tongue.

"_Eh_– I don't know?" Lissa goes to face her brother, but a low groan grabs her attention, as well as everybody else's. I guess all it took to wake him up was the dialogue to start?

Before he even opens his eyes, he's rubbing at his forehead like hes got a killer headache. He probably does– _one bad enough to give him amnesia_.

When he finally does open his eyes, Chrom and Lissa are standing above, casting a shadow over him.

"_I see you're awake now_."

"_Hey there_–" Lissa gives another awkward laugh next to her brother. Robin groans again.

"_There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know_," Chrom says, and stretches out his palm, "_Give me your hand_."

And as Robin takes it I get up myself, because if this is the beginning of a game, I might as well play some part in it.

"You...all right?" Chrom asks, to a very distracted Robin.

"Y–Yes…" He keeps on rubbing his thumb over the purple mark on his hand and he hasn't torn his eyes from it since he stood up. "...Thank you, Chrom."

"Ah, then you know who I am?"

Robin looks up from his hand for the first time. "No, actually. I… It's strange…your name, it just… came to me…?"

I'm half surprised he can even talk, let alone remember Chrom's name with no memories of _anything_, but then again that wouldn't really help the plot of the game, now would it?

"...Hmm, how curious. Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?" asks the prince.

"My name is…? It's…. hmm..." Poor guy has a glazed look on his face, is covered in mud, and has no memories whatsoever. Sucks to be a video-game character.

"...You don't remember your own name?" Chrom asks.

"Hey, I've heard of this! It's called amnesia!" Lissa interjects, the perfect diagnosis in less than 30 seconds Our healer, ladies and gentlemen.

"It's called a load of pegasus dung," Frederick says, eyeing the boy- I snicker to myself, Lissa elbows me. "We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?"

"B-but it's the truth!" Robin stammers.

"...What if it is true, Frederick? We can't just leave him here, alone and confused," Chrom says, turning to his deputy. "What kind of Shepherds would we be then?"

"Just the same, Milord. I must emphasize caution." The knight took a step closer to Robin, so he could say the following to his face. "'t would not do to let a wolf into our flock."

"Right then–" Chrom put a hand on Frederick's arm to draw him back. "We'll take him back to town and sort this out there." Town. Brigands. Fighting. My stomach doesn't feel so good all of a sudden.

"Wait just one moment. Do I have any say in this?" Robin takes two steps back from them both, looking pretty intimidated, poor guy.

"Peace, friend–" Chrom lets go of Frederick and turns to the horses tied up behind him. "I promise we'll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come, you can follow next to the horses."

"How can you not be comfortable around horses?"

"Look Lissa, not everybody has been taught to ride ponies and pegasi since they were a little girl."

Lissa scoffed. "I wasn't taught to ride pegasi until I was well into my pre-teens. Pegasi are dangerous."

I gaped at her. "Horses are dangerous! They're just legs, and muscles, and, and–" I held onto the horse's mane tighter, ignoring the reigns. "–and I could fall off or get trampled, or it could buck."

"You'll do fine, just don't spook the horse," called Chrom ahead of us. "It can feel your anxiety– calm yourself, and you'll calm the horse."

"I'm sorry Chom– _did you say it can _feel _my emotions?!_" I spluttered, and the horse lifts its head and its ears point up. "_No, no no nooo, I am getting off–_"

"But we haven't gotten anywhere!" exclaimed Lissa. "And I'm holding the reins for you, it doesn't even count!"

"It counts enough. Thank you for letting me ride alone, Lissa, _now lemme off!_" I went to slide off the right side, but Lissa made a squeaking noise. "What now?"

"Never _ever_ get off on the right side– _always the left_." She clutched onto the reins and her knuckles turned white.

"O- kay? Sorry?" I stammered, as she shook her head fervently. "_Horse people_..." Even in video games they're super weird.

I slid off the _left side_ and landed hard on the rocky ground with my bare feet. I scrunched up my face to keep myself from saying anything, but Lissa, being next to me, gave everything away.

"Oh, right, you don't have any shoes!" I went to rub at my feet but I remembered that they're a lot muddier and grosser than the rest of me. I looked back up to Lissa's saddle and it was streaked with mud. Whoops.

"Er– sorry, Lissa, but I'll travel on foot now." I took another step onto the hard rocks. "Despite the pain," I said between gritted teeth.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I could always give you mine–"

"No Lissa, it's okay–" I took another look at her muddy saddle. "Besides, you'll probably need them."

Lissa made a noise but let me walk on. The five of us found the main road once again (after my detour) and continued on our way to town. The official story was that the shepherds would see me to Southtown, find the men who supposedly took my things, and get Robin to a doctor and see if there was any head trauma relating to his amnesia (according to Lissa and Frederick, I haven't spoken to Chrom or Robin quite yet). They didn't expect the conflict waiting for them in town, but I sure as hell wasn't going to break it to them, as guilty as I felt about keeping them in the dark. I needed to seem as little suspicious as possible.

What was bugging me though, was that the whole reason I got to travel along with Chrom, Lissa and Frederick was because of someone else lying for me, _with my own voice_. Not only did they speak in my head, did they also control my arm to point down the road? What if they didn't lie for me? Would I just have been left on the road and from the rest of the game? Is the voice connected to how I got in the game in the first place?Oor am I just going crazy? _Am I crazy_? Is this all some hallucination?

'_**You aren't crazy, please don't freak out again.'**_

_Okay, then. No freaking out._ Calm, quick breaths. Let nobody see your paling face and pinched expression. _But goddamn if their voice isn't loud_.

'_**Good, you're learning. Now I can get to some of your questions, so long as you don't ask too many.'**_

What sort of answers would I really be getting from some shady voice in my head? And how could I trust them if they're related to how I got put in the game in the first place?

'_**I take back what I said about learning. But yes, I am related to how you got in the game. You can trust me.'**_

"_How can I know that I can trust you?_" I mutter under my breath. I walk a little bit farther away from Lissa and the rest of the group, so they don't overhear my one-sided conversation with… myself? With the voice in my head? Good lord, I must look crazy.

'_**I got you traveling with the Shepherds. You need me. Now, listen to me: once you get to town, find your starter bag and avoid any fighting.'**_

"_What do you mean, my starter bag? Why should I avoid fighting? How did I get here?_"

'_**Compared to the rest, fighting isn't really your skillset. Get your starter bag, get your answers.' **_

"_What? What rest? Are there others? Who are you? Why am I here?!_" Rocks kept digging into my feet, but I ignored the pain and kept walking. I could hear Robin talking with Chrom up ahead.

'_**Call me the oracle. Pay attention to the others, you're almost to the town.' **_

"Wait– _please, why am I here? What happened to me? I want to go home. Answer me!_"

No response. God, I didn't know how quiet it was inside my own head until 'The Oracle,' or whoever they were, left it. I also don't know a lot of things, apparently. Like, if there's other people in this game like me, or if I'm actually alone in all of this and if there's anybody who knows where I am or what's going to happen to me. What about my family? Do they know what happened to me? Have I disappeared without a trace? Are my parents looking for me? How long have I been gone? Why didn't the Oracle tell me how I got here?

"What will you do with me? Am I to be your prisoner?" asks Robin. Of course the dialogue starts up again, right in the middle of my panicking.

"Hah! You'll be free to go once we establish that you're no enemy of Ylisse," Chrom says, slowing down his horse to talk to the amnesiac beside him.

"Is that where we are? Ylisse?"

"You've never heard of the Halidom? Ha! Someone pay this actor. He plays quite the fool! The furrowed brow is especially convincing…" Frederick says from the top of his Clydesdale. The guy is literally on a massive battle horse in full knight armor. Wait– doesn't his horse also wear armor in the game? _That's terrifying_.

"Frederick, please." He turned back to Robin. "This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the Exalt."

I get a little closer to everyone and rest some of my weight on Lissa's horse as we continue to walk, my poor sore feet and wrecked leg finally getting a bit of rest.

"I suppose some proper introductions are in order… My name is Chrom– but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa," the prince said, smiling down to her.

"I am not delicate! ...Hmph!" She crossed her arms and made a face at him before turning back to our muddy amnesiac. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

"Instead, you had me discovering you," I blurted out. So much for not putting myself in the dialogue. "Er– sorry, about kicking you. My name is Callie," I say, giving Robin a small wave, "I'm sorta in the same position as you– though no missing memories, unfortunately."

I honestly don't even think he heard much of that, instead he turned back to Chom. "You call yourselves shepherds, yet you tend sheep? ...In full armor?"

"Heh, it's a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here." Chrom's not even going to acknowledge my self-introduction? Ouch.

"A title I shall wear with pride. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution," the knight replies from the top of his massive horse. "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

You know, seeing Frederick in 'wary' mode makes me realize how much I was overreacting before, thinking he didn't believe my story. I probably would've been okay coming up with my own lies… Which means, the 'Oracle' guy was lying? I mean, yeah sure, finding someone in the middle of the street with weird clothes and no shoes would be… strange, but would it really merit leaving them? So what was the point of talking for me? I mean sure, I would've flubbed my words, but eventually come up with some sort of lie– was it just an act? Or was it to show me that they could control me?

"I understand your reasoning, sir. I would do no less myself. My name is…." He shook his head, wincing. "Ach, no good it seems, I still draw a blank."

"It would make addressing you easier, but we can discuss the mystery of your origin after we get you to town," replied the prince.

"Which…. is just a few minutes away, right?" I asked Chrom, gripping onto Lissa's horse just a little bit tighter.

"Actually, we should be able to see it by now–"

_**KABOOOOM!**_

I felt the earth shake under my feet and Lissa's horse tensed at the sudden explosion. Wait– _explosion_?

"What was _that?!_" I asked, but everybody was already making their way towards the sound of the blast. "Hey– _wait up_!"

_Ow rocks, ow feet, ow leg_– Running after four, probably trained, fighters, in bare feet towing a horse– ugh, _I should've done more P.E. in school_.

"Chrom, look! The town!" I heard Lissa call up ahead. They were already so far down the road I couldn't see them past the trees.

"_Ugh_– _don't get left behind, don't get left behind, don't get_–" _Oh_.

Oh wow.

The town– _Southtown_.

The entire place lay _burning_.

Rocks and debris littered the rest of the road to it– the outer walls of the country town blown to pieces, part of buildings still crumbling by the blast.

Somewhere I could hear Chrom call to his shepherds, but I was l was too focused on looking for survivors. Where was everybody? Have they already evacuated? Did anybody get caught in the explosion? Could I have prevented this from happening if I told anyone?

"Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!" Chrom was already helping Lissa onto the back of his horse.

"What about them?" Frederick jerked his head towards Robin and then me, still staring at the wreckage.

"Unless they're on fire as well, _it can wait!_"

"Aptly put, Milord."

"Lets go already!" called Lissa, before she, and the rest of them, rode into the smoking town.

"We can't just stand here– we have to go in after them!"

"Do you have any weapons? Anything to defend yourself with?" I turned to Robin.

"No– but–"

I cut him off. "Look, I agree with you– but I don't have any shoes, and neither of us know how to fight."

I started walking towards a deer path on the side of the road.

"Where are you going?" Robin called after me.

"To tie up the Lissa's horse– it'll just get in the way." The trail was only just wide enough to squeeze the horse through, and slipping past it again took more time than I could afford. Once I tore out of the trail, the road was empty.

"Robin? Hey– where did you go?!"

"Over here–" he said, coming out from inside the town gates. "–and what did you call me?"

Crap, crap, _crap_. He didn't remember _his name, right_. "Ugh– er, nothing." I paled. "What do you have there?" I gestured to whatever he had tucked under his arm.

"Wha– oh, here." He handed a pair of boots to me. "You looked like you needed them, er– " he paused- "Sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"It's Callie, and it's okay you forgot my name–" I went to wipe off some of the mud from my feet. "–you seem to be having a pretty rough day anyway, and thank you so much for the shoes."

Off in the distance, another blast went off, followed by the crack of what sounded like– _lightning_?

"We better get going–" He turned to the town gates and I hurried to put on the boots. They were a bit big, but good enough. "We can at least help people in town– if they didn't already evacuate."

"Right, okay _Robin_–" Oh, _goddamnit. _

"You said it again–" He turned back to me. "Robin? Why?"

"I– er– I don't know?" I paled. This is weird, this is _suspicious_, how could I know his name? _Oh god, oh no_– "You just– er– seem like a Robin? It's easier than calling you guy-with-amnesia-I-found-in-the-woods?" Please believe me, please please.

"Really? Um…. okay?" he said. Are you serious?

"Er– _really_? You don't mind?" I _choked_.

"No– actually, I like it," he smiled. "Until I regain my memories, you can call me Robin, it _would_ make things easier." Seriously, how can I be getting away with this.

"Well– I'm uh, I'm glad!" I jerked my head towards the crumbling gate. "We should... get going."

"–Right." he nodded, and the two of use made our way into the smoldering village.

This is going to _suck_.

* * *

><p>AN: Finally, finally up! it took a lot longer than i thought, I guess some things got in the way of writing (Pokemon OrAs, Mass effect, Inuyahsa, I'm awful)

Thank you to those who followed and reviewed! you're all so sweet omg.

(also shoutout to laura, my best friend ever, for editing this, and the last chapter! you're the besttt )


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